A flat in the the turreted former War Office on Whitehall, SW1, has become London’s priciest property per square foot.

The four-bedroom apartment, spread across the fifth and sixth floors of the Hinduja-owned building, has sold for an estimated £40m. The price equates to more than £11,000 per sq ft and is the highest ever paid for a property in London, beating the £7,400 per sq ft paid for a flat in the Candy brothers’ One Hyde Park, SW1, in 2017.

The building, which was sold by the government on a 250-year lease in 2014 for £350m, is being branded “The Owo”: a hotel with 120 five-star rooms, 11 restaurants and bars and 85 private residences for sale from £5.8m.

On plans approved by Westminster City Council, the four-bedroom, 3,442 sq ft duplex on the fifth and sixth floors comes with a 1,259 sq ft terrace plus the building’s three-storey north turret with views across the Thames towards the South Bank and east to St Paul’s.

The owner of the flat is thought to be an associate of the Hindujas, but not a family member.